I graduated from the University of Washington in 2008 with a degree in Business Administration (Marketing), and immediately entered the professional online marketing world. I founded AudienceBloom in April 2010, and have since become a columnist for Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Watch, and Huffington Post. My personal blog is located at AudienceBloom.com/blog. I guest lecture for marketing classes at the University of Washington, and currently reside in Seattle, WA.

Covering everything from ‘smart’ technology – glasses, watches and TVs in particular – to the emergence of natural language search, to trends in gaming, the article contained some hits and some misses. In this article, we’ll take a look at the predictions I made, and assess how those predictions have turned out so far.

1. Consumers will come to expect Smart TV capabilities

In my original post, I speculated that we may see the launch of Apple’s much-anticipated iTV as early as summer 2014. Although there has been no official word from Apple on this product, many experts believe it’s only a matter of time before Apple makes the move into the Smart TV market.

In an interview with his biographer, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying he finally “cracked the code” for breaking into the TV market; and this is perhaps where rumors of the so-called iTV originated. He said, “I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. It will have the simplest use interface you could imagine.”

Many are now speculating, however, that this new product will be a seriously upgraded version of Apple TV, rather than a stand-alone smart TV. In fact, when biographer Walter Isaacson was asked (after Jobs’ passing) how close Apple was to developing a smart TV, he replied, “They weren’t close at all. He told me it was very theoretical. These were theoretical things they were thinking about in the future.”

In any case, smart TVs continue to dominate the marketplace. According to recent research by Parks Associates, smart TV sales show no sign of slowing down; in fact, according to the report, over 1/3 of American broadband households now own a smart TV, and nearly two-thirds of people shopping for a flat-panel TV in 2014 are purchasing smart. They also found that among smart TV sales, Samsung is leading the pack.

2. Smart watches will become ‘smarter’

The concept of smart watches still appears to be one on which people are highly divided. According to research by News Republic, consumers worldwide appear to be split evenly when it comes to the desire to wear one (although respondents from Spain came in highest with 7 out of every 10 being pro-smart watch).

Earlier this year, Google got in on the smart watch game by announcing its foray into wearable technology, which they’ve named ‘Android Wear’. The software, a completely mobile version of Android’s operating system, will be incorporated into smart watches which will be offered by various big brands.

The watches (which are currently only available to the public by pre-order) will allow users access via voice control (“OK Google”), along with all the features you’d expect, like email and text. Health and fitness features are also incorporated; these will be particularly useful for watches with built-in pedometers and heart rate monitors.

Apple is also rumored to be on the brink of announcing its “iWatch,” a smart watch which will run iOS and facilitate phone calls, email, Internet browsing, and texting. Rumors are that it will also be voice-controlled, and may be announced in early September 2014.

3. Google Glass will still be in “wait and see” mode

As predicted, Google Glass still hasn’t hit the market, although it’s expected you should be able to pick up a the smart glass sometime later this year or early in 2015. Opinions are still split on whether the technology will ever be truly useful and adopted into the mainstream. Up until now, the glasses have only been available to product testers at a cost of around $1,500 per unit. According to Google, the price tag will be lower once it’s released to the general public.

Google isn’t the only one with the smart glass technology, however; it has been rumoredthat Samsung will be releasing its own version – known as ‘Gear Glass’ – as early as this September.

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